Woman allegedly assaulted over Facebook photo 'like'

Boyfriend accused of hitting her in front of kids

Mar. 26, 2013

Marcus O'Neal

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Police say a 28-year-old Springfield man closed the windows while he abused his girlfriend so neighbors wouldn’t hear her screams — or the cries of four children who witnessed the attack.

At one point, court documents say, the woman nearly blacked out; later, she was allegedly stripped of her clothes and inspected for signs of infidelity.

Marcus O’Neal has been charged with three counts of domestic assault in connection with the mid-March abuse allegations.

Police say O’Neal turned violent after looking at his girlfriend’s Facebook page. The girlfriend had “liked” a photo of a female friend posing with a man.

When O’Neal saw it, police say, he became jealous, believing his girlfriend wanted to be romantically involved with the man in the photo.

The woman pleaded that she had no interest in the man but O’Neal slapped her in the face, according to court documents.

From the hallway, she tried make a break for the bathroom and lock the door. But, according to the documents, O’Neal grabbed her, picked her up by the neck and carried to the bedroom.

He turned to the kids and said their mother was cheating on him; he called her a “whore,” according to the documents.

In the bedroom, police say, O’Neal slapped her again.

“Please stop,” the kids begged, according to the documents.

He grabbed her by the neck again, the documents say, and pinned her against the wall. Everything started to go black, she told police later.

By now, almost an hour after the argument started, the woman and kids were crying and screaming. That’s when, police say, O’Neal shut the windows and locked the front door.

He made the woman undress, court documents say; he searched her body for any signs of sexual activity.

Police say he spit on her and yelled obscenities.

She threatened to call the police.

He threatened to kill her mother and grandmother, according to the documents.

Eventually, the woman made up an excuse to leave the house. She checked herself into a hospital where she was interviewed by police. Officers noted bruising and scratches on her neck that they say are consistent with choking injuries.

Officers later confronted O’Neal, who was out on bond in connection with an earlier assault involving the same woman.

O’Neal told the officers he had never touched the woman and that the injuries to her neck were actually “hickeys” that he had given her a few days earlier, according to the documents.

O’Neal was arrested and taken to the Greene County Jail where he remains on a $25,000 bond.